Christian Treczoks has posted pictures of the final configuration of his Inn at the Olde Road. This creation has been displayed all or in part at various places in the past, so you may recognize it from 1000SteineLand displays, but soon it will meet the Dark Sorter, as he says in his Lugnet post. If you happen to be in Cologne, check it out before it goes away.

Well, parts of it have been on exhibition before, and even the current setup has been on display once, but now I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of the completed model. It was about time, too, as the MOC will meet the DARK SORTER after this very exhibition.

The Inn at the Olde Road

Designed and build by Christian Treczoks

Building Time: Approx. 3 years, mostly for the acquisition of parts. If I had to start over, I’d propably need 2 to 3 weeks to rebuild it.

Number or Bricks: Approx. 50000 to 60000. The tree alone consists of about 3500 bricks.

Weight: 50 Kilograms.

Size: 144x192 "studs", about 115.2x153.6cm (about 4 by 5ft for the metrically disadvantaged)

The model is based on a map I once drew up for a fantasy roleplaying game. It does not depict any specific historic example.

Description of the buildings

The "Inn at the Olde Road" is the only caravanserai and settlement along the "Olde Road", a trading route that runs through a dreaded forest. The dangerous woods spread a good days way to the east and west from the inn.

1. The Olde Road – An important, yet dangerious trading route. No one travels on this road without guards - for good reason.
2. The Hague – A thick and dense hedge protects the houses surrounding and supporting the inn.
3. The Hague Gate – One of the few passages through the hedge.
4. The Horse Barn – The horses for the royal courier service are stabled here. Upstairs, the innkeeper and his mother[1] have their quarters.
5. The Main Gate – There is quite some traffice in the morning and in the evening hours..
6. The Guest House – Downstairs are the kitchen and the dining room, upstairs are the guest rooms
7. Construction Site – A new house is being built.
8. The Wall – The surrounding woods are quite dangerous, therefor the Inn is fortified. Guards are keeping an eye or two open day and night.
9. The Old Gate – The rear entrance of the inn, used maily as cattle gate.
10. The Corn Barn – Here, the forage for the guests’ animals is stored.
11. The Servants Quarters – Such a big inn needs a lot of manpower for upkeep and service. The house is built atop the ruins of an old castle.
12. The Court – With its own spring and fishponds.
13. The Stables – The building is part of the castle that once stood here. Only two thirds of the old main hall still exist, and the new owners just patched the building up with boards and beams to make it usable.
14. The Blacksmith – Wherever a lot of horses, carts and carriges come along, a blacksmith can be quite handy.
15. The Tree – An old, large oak tree gives shadow to the court and the fishponds.

[1] Back in the olden days, when I mastered this gaming session, the name I gave the innkeeper was "Norman Bates". And yes, he talked about his old mother living "up there", and there were tales of a blonde lady travelling alone, and now missing What a nice red herring... He was mentally totally sound, only a little worried about rumors he heard (and therefor nervous), and his mother may be old, but she was still alive. And the girl was missing - well, all the traders and travellers hire protection for the route for a reason. She did not. Ah yes, and in the next playing session, the players arrived at the harbour city and learned that the only ship going in their direction was the saling ship "Nostromo". And they thought that this was a red herring, too. Boy, were they mistaken...

PS: There were a bunch of questions Bruce sent me:

How long have you been building LEGO?
Since the very beginning. and, after my dark ages, for more than ten years now.

How long have you been building Castle LEGO?
Well, this is my first castle moc, so the answer is: About three years.

Do you have any LEGO affiliations other than 1000Steine.de and Lugnet?
Oh yes! Regular fights with Jake in his blog

Do you have any LEGO website other than the 1000Steine MyImages gallery?
Nope. I'm not really into this web thingy, you know?

Where have you displayed this (I'm pretty sure I've seen pictures of this or of part of this from 1000SteineLand or other festivals)?
Yes, you are right, some parts have been displayed before:
The front part with the Main House, the Horse Stables and the Tree (first attempt) were at TSL2003. The Tree (second version) was at TSL2004, and the setup as it is now was on display in Frechen2005.

Were there any specific inspirations for this creation?
Well, I mastered an AD&D session that was set in this particular building. And I saw the display of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in LL Windsor, and my first thought was: What a horrible implementation of tudor style building!

What's next for you after you disassemble and sort this creation?
Well, there is THE PLAN, of course:
And there is a harbour town, and a hill with 1/4th of a castle, and some other things mangled into that...

Seriously, this is one of the greatest townscapes I've ever seen. Your attention to detail coupled with the grandiose scale of the buildings is astounding. I especially like the building under construction and the way the roads look. I can't believe I'm saying this, but take it apart and build the ship. Now.

I've got some additional information about the background of this fantasy setting. The history of the buildings can be split in three stages:

First, there was an evil wizard, who had his castle and tower built in (and beyond) the rear (north) part of the inn. The wizard created horrible monsters that roamed the woods and drove away the people who once lived in the forest, and made it so dark and dreaded. Then some heroes came by, killed the sorcerer and destroyed parts of the castle.

Then, many years later, the first inn was built atop the ruins of the castle. The new settlers boarded up the open side of the main hall and turned it into stables, and built the old main house - which are now the servants quarters on top of the ruins of another castle building. They did not tear down and rebuild from scratch, but they used what was there
and patched up what the needed to make the whole thing habitable.

So this "Old Inn" consisted of the buildings that are now servants quarters, stables, the old gate and some of the walls. The blacksmiths' was a later addition to the Old Inn. The watch tower, for example, is set atop the remains of one of the pillars of the old sorcerers tower.

Then the traffic grew and grew, and the inn had to expand, so they built the new main buildings at the front and the forage store. Around this time, they also dug the fish ponds, primarily as a water reservoir in case of a fire. The tree that once grew in front of the inn is now in the center of the court. One detail to point to ist that the design of the tudor framework - the old buildings have a more plain design, the newer ones in the front have a more playful, elaborate design (rounded corner beams, and if I had to rebuild it, I would even make them "painted", i.e. with blue and red and yellow plates 1x1 round mixed in).

Great work! It's really laid out well, and looks awesome. I especially love the hedge.

One thing I would complain about, though, is the house under construction. It looks great, but I thought it was a burned out house(which I thought was really brilliant and awesome.) It wasn't til I read your description that I realized it was actually being built, not falling down. I think tan plates would have been alot better to convey construction. Still, going up, or coming down, I like it.

Thank you! Pictures/making of of the hedge were asked for frequently, so I'll put up a folder on that, too. But, really, this is soooo simple, i wonder why other people have not done this before...

One thing I would complain about, though, is the house under construction. It looks great, but I thought it was a burned out house(which I thought was really brilliant and awesome.) It wasn't til I read your description that I realized it was actually being built, not falling down. I think tan plates would have been alot better to convey construction. Still, going up, or coming down, I like it.

Yes, I know that it would have been better with tan plates, at least for the roof beams (the other beams were tarred, anyway, so black is the best choice, maybe except for brown (before the tarring)). Sadly, tan plates, and especially tan hinges of the kind I'd need were hard to come by (or at least were at the time I built this particular house).

great job, it's awesome. my figs would love to live there!
my favourite parts are the construction,hedge, and the tree.
welcome to c-c, hope you enjoy your stay. i've played rpgs too, and sometimes i make mocs from some campaigns

"When you are wrestling for possession of a sword, the man with the handle always wins." - Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

Simply amazing. Your attention to detail and the fact that you even created a background story are a testament to the many hours of hard work that went in to building this model. It is very obvious that you cut no corners, nor did you spare any expence. True dedication.

quiksand wrote:Simply amazing. Your attention to detail and the fact that you even created a background story are a testament to the many hours of hard work that went in to building this model. It is very obvious that you cut no corners, nor did you spare any expence. True dedication.

Well, the dedication comes from my two mottos:
1. If you want a quick and cheap job, go ask someone else.
2. If it wasn't a challenge, I wouldn't have done it.

OK, this has its disadvantages, like taking a lot of time and money, but I think it's better to spend ones efforts into something worthy.